Greg Mankiw's Blog

Random Observations for Students of Economics

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Three Cheers for Kevin Hassett

Numerous news reports suggest that President Trump will tap Kevin Hassett to chair the Council of Economic Advisers. This would be an excellent choice. Here is an overview of Kevin's perspectives on economic policy, and here is my old review of his book Dow 36,000.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

You have got to be kidding me

If I did not know the source, I might have thought that this report was from The Onion:

The Trump administration is considering changing how U.S. trade deficits are calculated, a move that would make the deficit look larger on paper, the Wall Street Journal reported.

People involved in the discussions told the Journal that the leading idea is to count “re-exports” — goods that are imported to the U.S., and then exported to a third country unchanged — as imports, but not exports.

The change would inflate the trade deficit number, an important figure in trade negotiations and policy.

Wednesday, February 01, 2017

Econ Theory Summer Camp

Good News at Harvard College

Economics 10b: “Principles of Economics” is the most popular course in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the fourth consecutive spring, beating out the second-largest class—Life Sciences 1b: “An Integrated Introduction to the Life Sciences: Genetics, Genomics, and Evolution”—by a hefty margin of about 150 students.

Worthwhile Canadian Initiative

The Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto is
offering to help scholars and students impacted on by the new US immigration
restrictions. We would like to hear from anyone who:

- Can no longer return to the US to continue their academic
position or studies in a business, economics or related areas

- Students who have missed application deadlines for
University of Toronto degree programs in business, economics or related areas
but are concerned they will not be able to undertake studies in the US anymore

- Students and scholars who are facing temporary disruptions
as a result of the new policies who may need a place in North America to
continue their academic work.

The Demise of the CEA?

CEA DOA?… MM hears there’s a chance Trump will simply pass on filling the CEA Chair job that at one point appeared to be going to Larry Kudlow. Trump could decide to just stick with Gary Cohn and the National Economic Council and skip over the more academically-inclined CEA. Not a done deal at all but the chatter is out there.

About Me

I am the Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics at Harvard University, where I teach introductory economics (ec 10). I use this blog to keep in touch with my current and former students. Teachers and students at other schools, as well as others interested in economic issues, are welcome to use this resource.